CLARK
One more day to the Prom and I could be the luckiest guy in the world.
From my viewpoint in the cafeteria, I find myself arrested by the perfect version that is Lana Lang. I watch her laughing with her friends, taking delicate bites of her food and sips of her drink. Her dark hair is loose today and frames her tiny face. She really is so beautiful, but much more than that, so much more. She's so unaffected by her looks. She's sweet and nice, much nicer than most girls I know.
And she's my date for the Prom!
I know that I should be 'basking in my victory' as Lex puts it, but at this moment, despite how beautiful Lana looks today, I've got other things on my mind.
As good as the idea seemed at the time, I'm beginning to wonder whether it was smart of me to get Lex to ask Chloe to the Prom. Although Lex assured me that he wouldn't tell Chloe that I put him up to it, I'm pretty sure that she'd take a wild guess.
And my guess would be that the result would not look pretty.
Which is why I've been avoiding Chloe all day, which is hard considering that I'm taller than everyone so it makes it difficult for me to hide. She almost found me three times this morning, and I would have hidden in the library at lunch if my stomach didn't get the better of me.
Now I know she'll find me.
And, she would probably be-
"CLARK KENT!"
-downright angry.
I look up to find Chloe standing in front of me, glaring holes into the back of my head, boot tapping and face red with annoyance.
"Hey, Chloe. What's up?"
She drops into the seat opposite mine with a thump. "What is the deal with Lex Luthor asking me to the Prom?"
I pretend to look surprised. "Lex asked you to the Prom? That's great, Chloe! Now you have a date!"
"As if I wouldn't know that this was your bright idea, Clark."
I try. "It wasn't?" Chloe glares at me. "Okay, okay, but the point is you have a date."
"No, I beg to differ. The point is I have a date as pre-arranged by my buddy Clark."
"Same thing?"
She looks like she's about to throw something at me, probably the plastic knife she has clenched in her hand. "NO, Clark, not even close."
I decide that maybe I should stop defending myself and concentrate on cheering her up. "But that doesn't matter, Chloe. The point is you'll have fun! Don't you always have fun with Lex?"
"Gee, I don't know Clark. Refresh my memory. Have you ever SEEN me having fun with Lex?"
"There are first times for everything," I say feebly.
Bad mistake. She explodes, all over the cafeteria, loud enough for everyone to look at us. She goes into an all-out Chloe rant, which is never good, and I can't catch most of her words except for little bits like, "I cannot BELIEVE you, Clark!" and "Do I LOOK like charity to you?" and "Oh my GOD you are such a complete jerk!"
Thankfully, she pauses for breath when Pete arrives.
"What's up, you guys?" he says, taking the seat next to mine. Totally oblivious to the fact that he's just walked in on a very lethal moment and probably just saved me from being stabbed to death with a plastic knife by Chloe, never mind that it couldn't kill me, I'm pretty sure she would have found a way.
Saved by Pete! I fight the urge to hug him.
"Clark just got me a date with Lex. What's up with you, Pete?" Chloe replies in a false cheerful voice.
Pete looks from me to Chloe, realizing too late that he should have just sat somewhere else. "Oh."
"Are you in any part of this sordid plan to better my social life?"
"Nope, totally Clark's idea." I resist the urge to punch him. He shrugs at me. "This is your problem, man. Sorry."
Abandoned by Pete.
"You get what the problem here is, Clark?" I turn back to Chloe, resigning myself to another one of her rants. "I didn't NEED a Prom date. YOU needed me to have a Prom date, so you could enjoy YOUR night, guilt free. I'm not totally stupid, Clark."
Now she doesn't seem that angry about it, more hurt than anything else, and I feel a stab of guilt for it, although I don't really know why she would feel so hurt when I was just doing her a favor.
But the whole favor did some level of damage on her pride and that was pretty grade-A stupid of me.
"I'm sorry," I commiserate.
I don't know if my apology makes her feel better or she's just tired of screaming at me, but her frown melts from her face and she sighs. "Forget it."
"So you're not going with Lex?" Pete asks.
"Actually, I am."
Both of us stare at her. She pokes at her food innocently, carefully avoiding our looks.
"Oh my God, you're going to the Prom with Lex Luthor," Pete murmurs. "Now that's a date to remember."
"Not only that," she says saucily, "He's agreed to grant me an interview."
Pete's fork (or is it mine?) drops.
"And I get to ask ANY question," she adds.
"How did you manage that?" I ask, baffled. I remember the nauseated look on Lex's face when I mentioned the likelihood of an interview yesterday. It did not look like something he was willing to get into.
"Easy. No interview, no date."
Pete looks insanely proud of her. As she dives into the details of yesterday afternoon, and as I hear about Lex waiting outside the house and not wanting the interview and then being emotionally blackmailed for it, another thought strikes me.
Pete, never a fan, seems to rejoice in Lex Luthor's misery.
Whereas I have just realized that there's just one other person who's annoyed with me at this moment.
* * * * * *
"The girl is evil, Clark," Lex informs me, later that afternoon. "A fact you could have made known to me before you got me into this mess."
Knowing it was better to find Lex than to hide and have him assault me in my own home, I set off for the Talon right after school.
Finding his Porsche parked outside, a car that cannot belong to any other soul in Smallville for reasons other than the LEX license plate, I went inside and found him sitting alone and eating a sandwich, dressed in his customary dark clothes. He was reading a newspaper while eating, and from the distance of where I stood at the door and where he sat in the corner, he certainly looked calm enough.
But as soon as I approached him, he said, "You better be fucking thankful, Clark."
Then after a couple of minutes of hearing Lex rant about how he had to suffer to get her to go to the Prom with him, something he would not have had to go through if it wasn't because of me, he finally seemed satisfied at the guilty look on my face and my constant apologies, and continued with his sandwich.
"You really don't have to answer any question you don't want to, Lex," I assure him.
"I don't intend to, Clark. But the girl is more stubborn than a mule. She will devise ways to make me answer. And as pretty as she is, I doubt that her methods would be half as charming."
Although Lex had a pretty accurate portrayal of Chloe's stubbornness, I'm struck dumb at the fact that he just referred to Chloe as 'pretty'.
I stop and find myself thinking about Chloe, in the physical sense, for what seems like the first time in my life. Her eccentric clothes, her big- as-the-world smiles and her huge blue eyes. Nice figure. Not exactly Lex's type, if you remember Victoria Hardwick, he always seems to prefer the lacquered-over type women, more flashy than down to earth.
But well, essentially, she's pretty. I mean, yeah. Chloe's pretty. She is. Cute. No, no. She IS pretty. Chloe is pretty. Not surprising that Lex would think so. I guess.
This could go on all day. I have other things to worry about at the moment other than whether or not Lex finds Chloe pretty. I mean that's not exactly something I need to worry about, right?
"But are you still taking her?" I dare myself to ask.
He chews on his sandwich, regarding me.
"You don't have to."
He sighs and in resignation tells me, "Yes, I'll take Chloe to the Prom, Clark."
I grin at him and he manages a smirk back at me.
"It'll be fun," I promise him. He replies with a big bite of his sandwich and chews slowly and deliberately, probably refusing to comment on how 'fun' the Prom looks like at this moment when he's blackmailed for an interview.
Seeing as no more is to be said on the subject, I get up to leave. "I gotta go, Lex. But thanks. I owe you big time."
I'm about to leave when the sound of Lex's voice stops me. "Clark, I have to ask you something."
"Sure, anything."
"Is Chloe agreeing to go with me solely on the fact that I've agreed to grant her an interview?"
I hate to point out the obvious, but the way I see it there are only two reasons why Chloe would agree: it's either the interview or sheer desperation. Both reasons not very complimentary to Lex's ego, but I don't know why it would matter, anyway. I can't see why Chloe's opinion of him would affect him in any way.
"Well, yes, and she wants to go to the Prom," I tell him. Seeing the somewhat insulted look on his face, I hurriedly add, "And she wouldn't have agreed if it was anyone else asking her."
"Except for you, maybe," he says, wryly.
I look at him questioningly.
"Never mind, Clark," he sighs again. "Never mind."
One more day to the Prom and I could be the luckiest guy in the world.
From my viewpoint in the cafeteria, I find myself arrested by the perfect version that is Lana Lang. I watch her laughing with her friends, taking delicate bites of her food and sips of her drink. Her dark hair is loose today and frames her tiny face. She really is so beautiful, but much more than that, so much more. She's so unaffected by her looks. She's sweet and nice, much nicer than most girls I know.
And she's my date for the Prom!
I know that I should be 'basking in my victory' as Lex puts it, but at this moment, despite how beautiful Lana looks today, I've got other things on my mind.
As good as the idea seemed at the time, I'm beginning to wonder whether it was smart of me to get Lex to ask Chloe to the Prom. Although Lex assured me that he wouldn't tell Chloe that I put him up to it, I'm pretty sure that she'd take a wild guess.
And my guess would be that the result would not look pretty.
Which is why I've been avoiding Chloe all day, which is hard considering that I'm taller than everyone so it makes it difficult for me to hide. She almost found me three times this morning, and I would have hidden in the library at lunch if my stomach didn't get the better of me.
Now I know she'll find me.
And, she would probably be-
"CLARK KENT!"
-downright angry.
I look up to find Chloe standing in front of me, glaring holes into the back of my head, boot tapping and face red with annoyance.
"Hey, Chloe. What's up?"
She drops into the seat opposite mine with a thump. "What is the deal with Lex Luthor asking me to the Prom?"
I pretend to look surprised. "Lex asked you to the Prom? That's great, Chloe! Now you have a date!"
"As if I wouldn't know that this was your bright idea, Clark."
I try. "It wasn't?" Chloe glares at me. "Okay, okay, but the point is you have a date."
"No, I beg to differ. The point is I have a date as pre-arranged by my buddy Clark."
"Same thing?"
She looks like she's about to throw something at me, probably the plastic knife she has clenched in her hand. "NO, Clark, not even close."
I decide that maybe I should stop defending myself and concentrate on cheering her up. "But that doesn't matter, Chloe. The point is you'll have fun! Don't you always have fun with Lex?"
"Gee, I don't know Clark. Refresh my memory. Have you ever SEEN me having fun with Lex?"
"There are first times for everything," I say feebly.
Bad mistake. She explodes, all over the cafeteria, loud enough for everyone to look at us. She goes into an all-out Chloe rant, which is never good, and I can't catch most of her words except for little bits like, "I cannot BELIEVE you, Clark!" and "Do I LOOK like charity to you?" and "Oh my GOD you are such a complete jerk!"
Thankfully, she pauses for breath when Pete arrives.
"What's up, you guys?" he says, taking the seat next to mine. Totally oblivious to the fact that he's just walked in on a very lethal moment and probably just saved me from being stabbed to death with a plastic knife by Chloe, never mind that it couldn't kill me, I'm pretty sure she would have found a way.
Saved by Pete! I fight the urge to hug him.
"Clark just got me a date with Lex. What's up with you, Pete?" Chloe replies in a false cheerful voice.
Pete looks from me to Chloe, realizing too late that he should have just sat somewhere else. "Oh."
"Are you in any part of this sordid plan to better my social life?"
"Nope, totally Clark's idea." I resist the urge to punch him. He shrugs at me. "This is your problem, man. Sorry."
Abandoned by Pete.
"You get what the problem here is, Clark?" I turn back to Chloe, resigning myself to another one of her rants. "I didn't NEED a Prom date. YOU needed me to have a Prom date, so you could enjoy YOUR night, guilt free. I'm not totally stupid, Clark."
Now she doesn't seem that angry about it, more hurt than anything else, and I feel a stab of guilt for it, although I don't really know why she would feel so hurt when I was just doing her a favor.
But the whole favor did some level of damage on her pride and that was pretty grade-A stupid of me.
"I'm sorry," I commiserate.
I don't know if my apology makes her feel better or she's just tired of screaming at me, but her frown melts from her face and she sighs. "Forget it."
"So you're not going with Lex?" Pete asks.
"Actually, I am."
Both of us stare at her. She pokes at her food innocently, carefully avoiding our looks.
"Oh my God, you're going to the Prom with Lex Luthor," Pete murmurs. "Now that's a date to remember."
"Not only that," she says saucily, "He's agreed to grant me an interview."
Pete's fork (or is it mine?) drops.
"And I get to ask ANY question," she adds.
"How did you manage that?" I ask, baffled. I remember the nauseated look on Lex's face when I mentioned the likelihood of an interview yesterday. It did not look like something he was willing to get into.
"Easy. No interview, no date."
Pete looks insanely proud of her. As she dives into the details of yesterday afternoon, and as I hear about Lex waiting outside the house and not wanting the interview and then being emotionally blackmailed for it, another thought strikes me.
Pete, never a fan, seems to rejoice in Lex Luthor's misery.
Whereas I have just realized that there's just one other person who's annoyed with me at this moment.
* * * * * *
"The girl is evil, Clark," Lex informs me, later that afternoon. "A fact you could have made known to me before you got me into this mess."
Knowing it was better to find Lex than to hide and have him assault me in my own home, I set off for the Talon right after school.
Finding his Porsche parked outside, a car that cannot belong to any other soul in Smallville for reasons other than the LEX license plate, I went inside and found him sitting alone and eating a sandwich, dressed in his customary dark clothes. He was reading a newspaper while eating, and from the distance of where I stood at the door and where he sat in the corner, he certainly looked calm enough.
But as soon as I approached him, he said, "You better be fucking thankful, Clark."
Then after a couple of minutes of hearing Lex rant about how he had to suffer to get her to go to the Prom with him, something he would not have had to go through if it wasn't because of me, he finally seemed satisfied at the guilty look on my face and my constant apologies, and continued with his sandwich.
"You really don't have to answer any question you don't want to, Lex," I assure him.
"I don't intend to, Clark. But the girl is more stubborn than a mule. She will devise ways to make me answer. And as pretty as she is, I doubt that her methods would be half as charming."
Although Lex had a pretty accurate portrayal of Chloe's stubbornness, I'm struck dumb at the fact that he just referred to Chloe as 'pretty'.
I stop and find myself thinking about Chloe, in the physical sense, for what seems like the first time in my life. Her eccentric clothes, her big- as-the-world smiles and her huge blue eyes. Nice figure. Not exactly Lex's type, if you remember Victoria Hardwick, he always seems to prefer the lacquered-over type women, more flashy than down to earth.
But well, essentially, she's pretty. I mean, yeah. Chloe's pretty. She is. Cute. No, no. She IS pretty. Chloe is pretty. Not surprising that Lex would think so. I guess.
This could go on all day. I have other things to worry about at the moment other than whether or not Lex finds Chloe pretty. I mean that's not exactly something I need to worry about, right?
"But are you still taking her?" I dare myself to ask.
He chews on his sandwich, regarding me.
"You don't have to."
He sighs and in resignation tells me, "Yes, I'll take Chloe to the Prom, Clark."
I grin at him and he manages a smirk back at me.
"It'll be fun," I promise him. He replies with a big bite of his sandwich and chews slowly and deliberately, probably refusing to comment on how 'fun' the Prom looks like at this moment when he's blackmailed for an interview.
Seeing as no more is to be said on the subject, I get up to leave. "I gotta go, Lex. But thanks. I owe you big time."
I'm about to leave when the sound of Lex's voice stops me. "Clark, I have to ask you something."
"Sure, anything."
"Is Chloe agreeing to go with me solely on the fact that I've agreed to grant her an interview?"
I hate to point out the obvious, but the way I see it there are only two reasons why Chloe would agree: it's either the interview or sheer desperation. Both reasons not very complimentary to Lex's ego, but I don't know why it would matter, anyway. I can't see why Chloe's opinion of him would affect him in any way.
"Well, yes, and she wants to go to the Prom," I tell him. Seeing the somewhat insulted look on his face, I hurriedly add, "And she wouldn't have agreed if it was anyone else asking her."
"Except for you, maybe," he says, wryly.
I look at him questioningly.
"Never mind, Clark," he sighs again. "Never mind."